Gary Neville delivers verdict on West Ham’s top five hopes to be in new-look Champions League
Gary Neville delivers his verdict on West Ham’s top five hopes to be in UEFA’s new-look Champions League.
West Ham have enjoyed an excellent start to the new season and sit seventh in the Premier League table approaching the quarter-way stage.
The Hammers secured a last gasp 2-2 draw with Newcastle on Sunday, are in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup and sit top of their Europa League group with two wins from two.
West Ham have only lost to champions Man City and challengers Liverpool in all competitions this season.
David Moyes’ side are playing in Europe for a third consecutive campaign for the first time in West Ham’s 128-year history.
Radical changes will usually mean an extra Prem place at Europe’s top table – starting this season
But can they make it four in a row and even take that next step up to the Champions League?
The Hammers missed out on top four and Champions League qualification by a solitary win in the 2020-21 season. West Ham had to settle for a place in the Europa League instead.
But Moyes led his team to the semi-finals the following season and they continued to compete for the Champions League spots domestically too. In fact West Ham spent more time in the top four than Man United, Spurs and Arsenal but came up just short. The Hammers then missed out on a Europa League spot on the final day, ending up in the Europa Conference League instead.
That did not work out too badly, though, did it? West Ham ended a 43-year major trophy drought by winning the competition back in June.
Winning the Europa League this season would see the Hammers qualify for the Champions League.
But can West Ham make it via their league position after a strong start?
Gary Neville delivers verdict on West Ham’s top five hopes to be in new-look Champions League
With the radical change in format of UEFA’s competitions to follow the Swiss-system, extra places are being awarded to the strongest leagues.
The two countries with the best performance in the current European season will be awarded extra places in the Champions League.
An association can now have a maximum of seven places in Europe’s elite competition instead of five.
The good news for the Premier League and teams like West Ham is that the English top flight has been in the top two in six of the past seven seasons.
So fifth place is highly likely to be rewarded with Champions League football this season, even if English teams win both that and the Europa League – which is also rewarded with automatic qualification too.
That will give clubs like West Ham a huge incentive, especially with the likes of Man United and Chelsea struggling early on.
Now Gary Neville has delivered his verdict on West Ham’s top five hopes to be in the new-look Champions League.
‘Off what I’ve seen’
Speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast, Neville believes West Ham will ‘just’ miss out on top five and a place in the Champions League.
“I said Villa at the start of the season so I’ll stick with them but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was Newcastle,” Neville said.
“Chelsea or Newcastle would be the fifth team at the moment. Man United, Villa, West Ham and Brighton will just miss out.
“If I was rewriting history from a few weeks ago I’d still say Arsenal, City, then Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea or Newcastle in fifth.
“I’m not changing my predictions but off what I’ve seen, Man United are a lot worse than I thought. Tottenham and Liverpool are better than I thought.”
